Chapter 208

Niuquanzi Town was still the same as before; no one had even touched the barbed wire, which showed that survivors in the surrounding area were truly few and far between. No one had even come over to scavenge for supplies. The two excavators that Zhang Su had been coveting sat quietly at the entrance of the town.

"In the end, it's nothing more than a handful of yellow earth and a pile of white bones..."

Zhao Dezhu saw the corpses of the group that had originally attacked him. After so many days, they had already decayed significantly, revealing stark white bones.

His arm hadn't fully healed yet, but he couldn't sit still; he wanted to come out and work, so he followed along to busy himself with whatever he could manage.

"Not bad, Zhuzi. You found a father-in-law with a high level of education; your way of speaking is improving by leaps and bounds!"

Zhang Su teased.

Zhao Dezhu fanned his nose and laughed helplessly: "That's for sure, one has to improve, right? Hey, big brother, it stinks too much here, give me a cigarette."

The street was reeking with a foul stench. Zhang Su was just about to light a cigarette when he glanced sideways at Zhao Dezhu: "I have a limited number of cigarettes too, you know. Where's your own?"

"Hehe, I have to save mine to smoke slowly."

This afternoon was the happiest half-day he had experienced since the apocalypse. It wasn't just because he had a stable life; more importantly, he had truly played a role in the team and received a heartfelt 'thank you' from his companions. This sense of satisfaction was several levels above basic needs.

Zhang Su couldn't be bothered to deal with the shameless Zhao Dezhu and walked ahead first.

This kind of inconspicuous little improvement could subtly raise everyone's SAN value. After all, only when things were getting better could everyone's will to survive become stronger.

"Don't fight with Nurse Zhong over it..."

Amidst the laughter, Zhang Su touched his own buzz cut and said to the few people beside him: "I really hope we can keep living like this. Just this state right now—carefree and without worries—it's too comfortable."

As long as he returned to the camp, the world within the walls and the mountain gate felt isolated from the rest of the world. Seeing the smiles on everyone's faces and the hot food on the table, Zhang Su felt as if he had returned to his former life.

Using the afternoon, Lu Leiyang gave haircuts to all the men in the safety camp. It wasn't exactly a stylish haircut, but each of the 'long-haired monsters' had returned to a clean-cut look, and their mental state appeared much better.

As for video games, variety shows, fishing, or skiing, those could be completely replaced by farming, chopping wood, and practicing shooting.

When the group returned to the camp, Zhang Su handed a large bag of haircutting tools to Lu Leiyang, who was so moved he cried and laughed at the same time, as if he had found a treasure.

"Get lost, get to work!"

"Alright, I'm third."

After dinner that night, sitting in the warm dining room and seeing the men all looking like new people, Zheng Xinyu tugged at her own hair, which no longer had any style to speak of, and made a face.

Lu Leiyang said with a laugh.

There were quite a few barbershops on the street; there were three in the cleared area. Two were very ordinary, and one was slightly more upscale, not only looking like it had better scissors but also having quite a few hair-dyeing products.

"What satisfied or not? Who cares about hairstyles now? Just cut it short, as long as it's easy to manage! It's a deal, find some time tomorrow to cut our hair. Come on, girls, line up! I want to be first!"

Zhao Dezhu shook his head with a flourish, scaring Guo Dachao, who was standing behind him, into dodging—it was full of dandruff.

"I'm second!"

"Damn, it's just a pair of scissors, is it really that big of a deal? Hurry, give your big brother a handsome, trendy haircut!"

"As long as you're willing, I have no problem with it. But I'll say this in advance: I've never been responsible for styling women's hair before. If you're not satisfied, you'll have to bear with me..."

"To be honest, big brother, I feel like since the disaster broke out, my life is better and more fulfilling than before!"

"Tony-laoshi, when will you arrange something for the sisters too!"

Zhao Dezhu watched Yu Qing laughing and joking with a few women. He smiled knowingly and pulled out a cigarette, unconsciously passing them around. It wasn't until everyone had lit up that he remembered cigarettes were rationed...

"I worked in a supermarket for eight years. The first three years I was a stocker, and the last five I was killing fish. Every day was a monotonous life. No house, no car, no wife. My colleagues thought I lived freely—was that 'free'? That was having no other choice..."

"Look at me now: killing fish has turned into killing zombies, and occasionally slaughtering a few bastards. I have a house, a car, and a wife. Damn, big brother, you tell me: have I progressed or regressed?"

Zhao Dezhu's emotional outburst left the people around him quite moved.

Wang Xin and Liu Tianji had some savings, but they sat in front of computers every day writing endless code, not knowing where the path led.

Lu Yubo hung out with a few gangsters, working as security in karaoke bars and pool halls, just drifting through life one day at a time. It looked carefree and unrestrained, but when he had no money and no women, all the worries would start to attack him.

Qi Xiaoshuai rode his little electric scooter, spending at least ten hours a day weaving through the city's streets and alleys, delivering food through wind and rain, earning a salary controlled by algorithms. His future was locked within big data, unable to jump out of the framework.

Pang Dakun was stealing here and there. His future was clear, though: the final outcome would definitely be ending up in jail...

Lu Leiyang, who was getting along well with the women, had a good job, but he was quite troubled when it came to finding a partner. His parents had also distanced themselves from him for various reasons. He had some money in his pocket, but he wasn't happy.

Jia Shiqin and Yu Wen were two people with very clear life goals. Because they had a family, everything they did was for the sake of the family's operation.

"Hey, Dachao, what did you do before?"

Zhang Su remembered that he hadn't asked about Guo Dachao's past yet.

"Me?" Guo Dachao stubbed out his cigarette and said, "I worked in auto repair!"

"Hmm?"

Zhang Su exchanged a look with Zhao Dezhu and Jia Shiqin and pressed further: "What kind of auto repair?"

"Sheet metal and mechanical repair, I can do both... But Brother Su, don't talk to me about those two wrecked cars down the mountain. Those things couldn't be fixed even if you dragged them to a 4S shop, I can't do anything about them..."

Guo Dachao scratched his head helplessly.

"Not those two pieces of junk. If ordinary household cars are ruined, let them be. Can you fix excavators?"

Zhang Su asked expectantly; he hadn't forgotten about those two big machines in Niuquanzi Town.

"Excavators? I see, you mean those two machines in Niuquanzi Town today, right? I took a look. I can't say they're completely unfixable, but it would require tools and time. I can give it a try."

Today was the first time Guo Dachao had followed Zhang Su to Niuquanzi Town.

Zhang Su slapped Guo Dachao on the shoulder and said: "We have plenty of tools. This Master Jia Shiqin here was an electrician, he can give you a hand. And Old Tan, she also knows some things about mechanical repair. You all go take a look together tomorrow!"

"If we can get an excavator back, we can dig a three-to-five-meter-deep trench in the fields. The zombies will just howl as they jump in. We'll be able to sleep soundly, hahaha."

Zhao Dezhu clapped his hands repeatedly.

"Everyone, it's snowing!"

Suddenly, Yang Wenjie, who was guarding the monitoring room, pushed the door open and entered the dining room, pointing at the sky outside with a hint of joy on her face.

"It's snowing?"

"Let's go, let's go see!"

The group walked into the courtyard together. The sky was very dark, but with the help of the lights, they could see snowflakes drifting sparsely in mid-air. The snow was very light, so light that it could only be seen in the air, and it disappeared as soon as it hit the ground.

Zheng Xinyu reached out to catch a snowflake, which melted before she could even feel the cold temperature.

"Everyone is so happy today, and we even caught such a special weather event as snow. Mr. Zhang, why don't we draft a new calendar?"

Yu Wen suggested with a smile.

"Ah?"

Zhang Su was baffled by Yu Wen's words. Calendar? Haircut? What on earth...

"A calendar. Gregorian, lunar, solar—a calendar. To cast off the old and welcome the new. The old era sank in the disaster, and the new era is reborn in the darkness."

Yu Wen said with immense enthusiasm.

However, the others' attitudes toward this matter seemed quite indifferent.

Something like a calendar was simply too big; in the past, this wasn't even something a single country could decide!

"Uncle, this thing... we can't really make the call on it, is it necessary?"

Zhao Dezhu was the only one in the entire camp who called Yu Wen 'Uncle'.

"You don't understand!" Yu Wen waved his hand, not even bothering to explain to this simple-minded son-in-law, and just looked at Zhang Su: "The meaning is a kind of belief, with far-reaching influence. Mr. Zhang, would you consider it?"

Zhang Su actually didn't have much interest either, because the old calendar was already very complete, and it felt strange to change it now. But as Yu Wen said, things from the old era would pass sooner or later, and they needed to be replaced by new ones.

Even if human civilization were to bloom on the planet again one day in the future, it would no longer be that same civilization. As for whether other survivors would accept it, there was no need to worry; at least internally, everyone just needed to accept it.

Perhaps someone had already started re-dating based on the time the disaster broke out; it was impossible to know.

"Today is..." Zhang Su raised his wrist to look at his watch.

"Today is December 7th on the Gregorian calendar. Ah, what a coincidence, today is 'Heavy Snow'... October 25th on the old calendar. If we really want to replace it, then today is the last day of the Gregorian calendar. Starting tomorrow, we will use the new calendar. The old calendar is our tradition, that won't change!"

Before this, everyone didn't think much of it, but when Zhang Su said "Today is the last day of the Gregorian calendar," the expressions on everyone's faces changed. They became serious. This matter didn't seem absurd anymore; it even seemed a bit sacred?

This was the feeling in many people's hearts.

"Mr. Zhang, please name the new calendar!"

Yu Wen raised his hand very solemnly.

"Name it..."

Zhang Su looked up at the sky, which was bright to him, took a deep breath, and said: "Let's call it the Light Calendar!"

(End of chapter)